Containers for pharmaceutical liquids are generally termed vials, covering a capacity range of from approximately 30 ml to approximately 1000 ml. Vials are typically configured of molded glass with a substantially cylindrical body portion and a somewhat narrower neck, the opening at the top of the neck being sealed with an elastomeric membrane held by a metallic band. At the microscopic level, molded glass often has flat spots and indentations. A printed label is applied to the vial with an adhesive. The label is typically a plastic film, and the adhesive is typically an acrylic polymer with strong adhesion characteristics. Certain vials are intended to be suspended from a support pole in a medical environment to dispense the vial's contents by force of gravity. In this instance, a band is adhered to the vial over the label with a suspension loop connected to the band but not glued. Whereas the loop and band must securely support the weight of the vial and contents, the band must be adhered to the label and the label to the vial with an aggressive adhesive. Occasionally, it is necessary to remove labels, e.g. if an error in information or contents makes the existing label inaccurate. In order to remove the printed information label, it would be necessary to also remove the band and suspension loop.
The field of apparatus and methods for removing labels from rigid containers is represented by U.S. Pat. No. 4,122,734 for a Label Stripping Machine, U.S. Pat. No. 5,152,865 for a Method For Clean Removing Labels From Containers, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,651,846 for Method And Apparatus For Removing The Printed Layer Of Labels From Semirigid Containers. The degree of adhesion of the labels to vials discussed above has been determined to be beyond the ability of the apparatus and methods of these patents. Therefore, a need exists for an apparatus and method for removing labels that are adhered to vials or other objects with hard surfaces with a particularly aggressive adhesive.